Super Savings Saturday - Holiday Edition

Hope everyone is enjoying the nice long, Labor Day weekend! We're busy getting the final supplies needed for Ashleigh's first week of kindergarten. This is uncharted territory for us - first baby to go off to big kid school :( So we're pretty anxious to get started and finally settle into our new routine!

Here's my deals for the week. Not much coupon action this week LOL! But I'm so in love with the quick sale fruit bin at Harris Teeter. Before, I would always just pass by. Until one week I came across 3lb bags of organic bananas in the bin for less than $1! And you know what, they weren't even over ripe or anything! So now I make a point to always pass by just see what good deals might be there waiting.

Grocery Totals:

Total spent: $93.85
Total savings: $48.15

Kroger:

18 jars Beech Nut baby food (sale .40ea - 1.50/8 Q)
2 Huggies Pull Ups (10.99 - 2/1Q)
1 bag KR shredded Mexican cheese blend (sale 1.66)
6 ears sweet corn (sale 2.00)
1 head cauliflower (sale 2.00)
1 bunch broccoli (sale 2.00)


Total oop: $38.33
Total savings: $12.42


Harris Teeter:


1 HT seasoned fries (3.19 - $1.50 e-vic)
2 HT whole wheat tortillas (sale 2/3)
1 box frozen HT Natural (hormone free, grass fed) beef patties (sale 7.99) ---> probably would have been cheaper to make my own using the ground turkey still on sale at Kroger. Live & Learn!
3lb bag bananas (quick sale .92)
1.5lb bag apples (quick sale .75)
1 bunch organic cilantro


Total oop: $16.36
Total savings: $8.28

Lowes Foods:

3 gallons Full Circle organic milk
6 Mott's apple juice (store Q 2/3 - 1/2Q)
3 Meow Mix cat treats (FREE! sale 1.29 - .75/1Q doubled)
4 Mott's apple sauce 6pks (store Q 2/3 - .55/2Q doubled)
1 Butterball Deep fried turkey sliced lunchmeat (sale BOGO - 1/1Q)
1 red bell pepper (sale 2.00)
2lb white, seedless grapes (w/greenpoints .89/lb)

Total oop: $32.66
Total savings: $27.45

Quick stop by Whole Foods for bags of organic dried black beans, green lentils and long grain brown rice - total oop: $6.50

Super Savings Saturday is hosted by Money Saving Mom, helping you become a better home economist!

First Day!

Well, we survived the first day of kindergarten -- with most of my sanity still intact! It was quite a wet morning. I knew it was going to be rainy, but I was figuring on some light showers. It was actually a full fledged hurricane! So needless to say, we were all pretty soaked by the time we made it from the parking lot to the building.

Once we arrived to Ashleigh's class, we were happy to see one of her teachers from the Early Start program. We gave Ashleigh a hug and kiss and she went right on with putting her things away. Strictly business as usual. Dave & I kind of stood there waiting for a bit more to-do, but the teachers gently suggested we go. They are really adamant about the parents not lingering. I didn't think we were lingering in a bad way LOL!

The first day was actually an observation/evaluation day. Everything went well except at lunch time one of the teachers told Ashleigh she couldn't bring her organic snack bar to lunch because it was like candy??? So much for my stockpile of free organic snack bars. Last night we went back to find out the final classroom assignment. Ashleigh's teacher is actually the same teacher that evaluated her for the Early Start program. We also had a nice chat with the teacher's aide. She picked up right away that our last name seems Polish but is actually Lithuanian. She even speaks a bit of Lithuanian herself.

I feel really good about the teachers and I know Ashleigh is handling everything just fine. But the whole process brings to mind a saying from one of my favorite shows, "foolishness and mayhem". It's so overwhelming! There's so much to buy (more supplies and now community snack!), so many forms to fill out. But if you fill out a form for one thing, you still have to tell ten other people because the office doesn't communicate things to the teachers. Uggghhh! It all has my stomach in a knot. I felt like I came away with more questions than answers.

I really don't know if I'm ready for kindergarten!

Financial Peace

What a coincidence that as I'm getting back into the habit of keeping a daily gratitude journal as outlined in Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach, I come across "Gratituesday" at Heavenly Homemakers!

Today, I'm giving thanks for financial peace!

I know there are some that look at our life and feel sorry for us. They feel sorry for us because we don't go out and spend freely the way they do. That we plan our purchases, save up for things and live on the ever dreaded, oppressive budget! But what they don't see, is the tremendous peace we now have in our finances.

There's peace in getting an unexpected bill for $224 in the mail and not worrying about how it's going to get paid. Because even though the bill wasn't budgeted for, since our other expenses were, there's always extra when something pops up.

When you call about the after school program and find out the registration fee AND first payment are due by the end of the week. And you don't freak out because you anticipated the expense and already started setting aside the funds for months in advance - that's peace!

When you look ahead to the future and see yourself being debt-free INCLUDING the mortgage before you're 40 and well before your children start college - that's peace! And I wouldn't trade it for all the stuff and toys in the world!

~

If you're in need of some financial peace in your life, I highly recommend the book The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This book has been such a tremendous blessing in getting our finances in order. You can also find information regarding Dave Ramsey's radio program, TV program (airs M-F on Fox Business Network 8PM EST) and Financial Peace University classes on his website - http://www.daveramsey.com/.

And if you're looking for like-minded individuals also working the baby steps, visit Living Like No One Else, a free, on-line support group.

Menu Plan Monday - August 25th

Lots of excitement this week! Ashleigh has her first full day of kindergarten this week. And my sister from California will be visiting too! This is also my busy time of the month at work. Whew! Let's hope I can keep it all together. But if all attempts at organization fail, at least I know what we're having for dinner this week LOL!

Here's our dinner menu for the week. For more meal plan ideas, visit Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie!

~ Dinner ~

Saturday - Jamie Oliver's Jools' Favorite Saturday Afternoon Pasta

Sunday - Crockpot Tamale Pie w/corn on the cob

Monday - Veggie Lo Mein

Tuesday - Creamed tuna (with homemade white sauce) over whole wheat pasta & steamed veggies

Wednesday - Chicken Nuggets & steamed, organic carrot sticks

Thursday - BBQ Turkey Meatballs with brown rice & fresh green beans

Friday - Taco Style Lentils & Rice, served in warmed, hard taco shells, with shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa & sour cream

Grocery totals --> This week I spent $89.13 and had $69.69 in coupon & sales savings! For a breakdown of my good deals, visit my Super Savings Saturday post!

Super Savings Saturday!

Woo hoo! Super Savings Saturday is back at Money Saving Mom! My sweetest deal this week was FREE Dixie Crystals brown sugar. The small boxes of Dixie Crystal light & dark brown sugar are .99 at Harris Teeter. Using the .55/1 any Dixie Crystals product blinkie (coupon from machine attached to the shelf - they used to blink, hence the term "blinkie" - ETA: I found these particular blinkies at Food Lion!), the sugar is FREE! Now all I need is some oatmeal and we'll be set for a quick and delicious breakfast!

My grocery totals for the week:

Total Spent: $89.13
Total Savings: $69.69!

Harris Teeter:

3 gallons HT Organic milk
6 boxes Dixie Crystals light brown sugar (FREE! .99 - .55/1Q doubled)
3 Clif Kids Organic Z bars (FREE! .99 - .50/1Q doubled)
1 quart HT Naturals Organic chocolate ice cream (FREE! BOGO - $3 e-vic)
4 Sargento shredded cheeses (sale 2/5 - 1/2Q)
2 bunches fresh broccoli (sale 4.00)
2lb red, seedless grapes (sale .99/lb)

Less $3 OYNO

Total oop: $28.08
Total savings: $31.20

Kroger:

2 Huggies Pull Ups (10.99 -2/1Q)
3 KR frozen veggies - corn, peas, green beans (sale 1.00ea)
2 Horizon Organic shelf stable milk (sale 1.00 -1/2Q)
2 cans Hunt's diced tomatoes
2 cans Hunt's Organic diced tomatoes w/herbs (closeout .99ea)
5 Clif Kids Organic Z bars (FREE! sale .59 - .50/1Q doubled)
8 jars Beech Nut baby food (sale .40ea - 1.50/8Q)
1 dozen Eggland's eggs
6 ears sweet corn (sale 2.00)
1lb fresh green beans (sale 1.25/lb)
2 Shadybrook 93/7 frozen ground turkey (sale 1.66ea)

Total oop: $37.27
Total savings: $17.69

Lowes Foods:

1 Sara Lee Whole Wheat bread (FREE w/coupon)
2 Tyson chicken nuggets (sale 6.00 - 1/2Q)
2-4lb bags Dixie Crystals white sugar (1.99 - .55/1Q doubled)
1 LF napkins (sale 1.00)
6 Motts for Tots juice (store Q 2/3 - 1/2Q)
3lb bag yellow onions (sale 2.50)
1 LF tall kitchen trash bags

Total oop: $23.78
Total savings: $20.80

Realization

I just realized, next week Ashleigh will have her first day of REAL kindergarten! Yikes!!! I haven't even finished shopping for supplies yet. I haven't taken an inventory of her clothes. I haven't bought plastic pocket folders. I haven't found the free Purell hand sanitizer I got from Walgreen's last year that I specifically set aside for when school started. I still don't know what a 12 pocket presentation folder is???

Thus begins a new normal for us. School shopping, teacher conferences, PTA meetings, homework, making new friends, morning drop offs and after school pickups, clipping box tops! Am I really ready for this?!?

Also realized my sister from California will be visiting next week! I'm not really anxious about her visit as she's a delightful guest. I just have to adjust our menus to feed 7. When my sister visits, she doesn't want to be entertained. She just wants to relax, read, cross stitch and play with the kids. Plus the kids are a constant source of entertainment anyway LOL! She even cleans our bathroom, pays for our anniversary dinner and watches the kids. She rocks!

Guess what I'll be doing this weekend, aside from watching the Bristol race?

FlyLady's Crisis Cleaning 101

I shudder at the thought of the amount of cracker crumbs I'm going to find in the sofa cushions!

$1.59 in Savings - And I Was Happy?!?

Frugality is relatively new to me. We have some frugal tendencies. But I really feel like I've only dipped my toe into the deep waters of frugal living. Last week I was reading around some of my favorite frugal living sites and came upon this great post on Frugal Hacks. The part that really stood out to me, was the comment about buying bread crumbs. I laughed because bread crumbs were on my grocery list LOL! But then I asked myself, "Why am I buying bread crumbs?" I have all the essential ingredients for making them - BREAD. So I marked bread crumbs off my grocery list!

Sunday as I was preparing to make the Baked Eggplant Parmesan for dinner, I bravely got out the loaf of whole wheat bread. I put a few slices in the toaster oven set for medium toasty. Crumbled the toasted slices into Dave's mini food processor (one of his yard sale scores! He loves that he can use it to make his own hummus!) and voila - made bread crumbs!

Of course making bread crumbs is no great culinary feat. And I only saved $1.59 by making them myself instead of buying them at the grocery store (my homemade version has no HFCS, which is a big bonus!). But I felt this small accomplishment was a much bigger step for me into the world of frugal resourcefulness. I'm finding this new path of frugality challenging to my sense of creativity. It's making me think about the resources I have on hand before I buy. Showing me how to make do whether the money is there or not. And I like it!